Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Nov. 24, 1977, edition 1 / Page 7
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Sound Barriers BrokenAfter 13 Silent Years By HELEN HOWARD - Staff Writer Two years ago a 13-year-old Warren County boy sat impatiently in a Trainable Mentally Retarded class. Teachers reported he paid little attention to what was being done and could not relate to commands. He could, however, complete some level of work given him. In the past two years, his life has been in a whirlwind. Born in 1962, Calvin Talley was placed in the TMR class when he began school. In 1975 the speech clinician for Warren County schools screened Calvin and the other students in the class. She immediately referred him to specialists at Duke. Their prognosis astonished Calvin, his parents and the school. He was profoundly deaf. Calvin was fitted with hearing aids and began working with the speech therapist, but he had to remain in the TMR class. During the 1975-76 school year, Warren County schools transported Calvin daily to Red Oak, the nearest program for the deaf. In 1976-77 the Warren County Board of Education hired a hearing specialist. Mrs. Gladys Short taught Calvin lipreading, sounds, words, and opened his small world to the vast one. Calvin worked constantly with the speech clinician, hearing teacher and the learning disability class teacher. He began to learn math, to say words, to hear birds...to be average. The school system then went the extra mile and provided a tutor for Calvin to work with him on a one-toone basis. At the end of last year's school year, the teachers combined forces and decided Calvin Talley needed to be out of TMR and in a regular class. Now A Sixth Grader This fall at age 15, just about two years after he was found to be deaf, Calvin Talley proudly walked into a sixth grade class. He can learn in school and hear the teacher by means of a special apparatus called a phonic ear. The special ear has a control box and two ear pieces similar to a hearing aid. The equipment was purchased through Title 6 B of ESEA funds and belongs to the school system. Bought specifically for Talley, the equipment costs about $12,000. Calvin arrives at school and removes his own hearing devices, replacing them with the special equipment. The control is strapped around his body and the teacher uses a microphone around the neck to "talk" to him. He carries the microphone wherever he goes around school. The special equipment magnifies sound enough so Calvin can hear his teacher or anyone using the microphone. The distance the sound carries is amazing. Calvin can be given instructions from a teacher in the cafeteria at North Warren while he is in another building. Mrs. Brenda Fuller is Calvin's sixth grade teacher. Mrs. Luwana Smith is his special tutor. She still works with Calvin exclusively and is with him in the classroom. The biggest problem he has at present is vocabulary. He has never heard words before and cannot associate particular words with meanings. But he uses a talent he has. Calvin draws. He can draw pictures of what he means and the teacher can draw pictures and teach him the word. His eyes sparkled when he saw the ice cream cone and soda pop she drew to better relate to him the word. Calvin could tell her which one he liked better, then he related other "better" things. Another problem he has is knowing what is expected of him. He often doc*s not understand exactly which way he is supposed to do a particular thing "He has never had to follow instructions," commented Mrs. Smith. She is presently teaching him to follow directions by circling, underlining or whatever command she dictates. If all of this sounds simple, remember that Calvin has never heard before. He must be taught the simple things first, things he could not hear or learn even as a child. Last week Calvin was working division in math along with the other sixth graders at North Warren. He quickly responds to math, Mrs stiller noted. He is spelling and reading, too. Calvin Talley is an average 15-year-old boy. He said he likes girls and football. The teachers noted he was a good athlete with good balance. "The boys always pick Calvin first when they chose teams," commented Mrs. Smith. Calvin said he doesn't particularly like the phonic ear but he can hear so he toleraies it. At home he wears two behind-the-ear hearing aids. i Youngest Child He said he has five sisters and three brothers. He is the youngest child. Two of his sisters are married, two have graduated and one is at Norlina High School. One brother has graduated and two are at Norlina High School. Calvin is the son of Mr. and Mrs. McCoy Junius Talley of Rt. 2, Norlina. Family members said Calvin would answer to responses when a child if they screamed at him. He had an operation once to correct his speech. The family believed it would help, never realizing he was deaf. This past summer he went to a special camp at Duke for speech and hearing disorders. Calvin said he had to "work, work, work," when asked how he liked the camp. "I liked it, it was fun," he commented. Calvin liked it because he was relieved of his summer duties of farming. His parents grow tobacco and he often drives the tractor (which by the twinkle of his eye, he loves) and helps with the harvest. His parents, wanting to help with the situation as much as possible, allowed him to attend the camp though they needed him at home. Calvin loves mechanical things, like tractors and cars. He is very useful with his hands. One thing for sure, he doesn't want to farm when he grows up. Mrs. Short explained that most deaf people have limited balance, eye-hand control, voice tone. Calvin is good in all these areas, another cover-up in detecting his hearing loss. Two years ago, Calvin Talley had never taken a test, seen a "chapter" or answered questions. He had never followed directions, never heard the train through Wise, never heard "one plus one equals two." Now he is in the sixth grade. The specialists hired through the school system, the phonic ear, and the desires of this young man have yielded a student capable of conquering the lost 13 years. Indeed, the conquests of his future are limitless. County Deed Transfers Jacqueline D. Puckett to William H. Puckett, Jr., Lot 453 of Eaton's Ferry Estates in River Township. Theo S. Hecht and wife to George Owen Hecht, Lot 5, Block V in Town of Norlina, Smith Creek Township. Charles W. Robinson tc Charles W. Robinson and wife. 23.5 acres in Nutbush Township. William E. Manning and wife to George Lee Benton and wife, 30,000. sq. ft. in NutbiisB Township. Donald R. Devaney and wife to Donald Reed Devaney, Lot 31 of Pasture Gate Subdivision in Sixpound Township. Isham Perry and wife to Helen P. Davis, one acre in Warrenton Township. Isham Perry and wife to Clifton Sommerville and wife, two acres in Warrenton Township. Charles W. Woodstock and wife to Willie Crowder and wife, Lot 14, Section G of Wildwood Point in Roanoke Township. Elden H. Luffman and wife to John F. Fusco and wife. Lot 19, Section A of Wildwood Point in Roanoke Township Lake Gaston Estates, Inc., to Dewey L. Cooper, Jr., and wife. Lot G-13 of Lake Gaston Estates in Sixpound Township. Linsey Hargrove and wife to Theodore Champ and wife, one acre in Smith Creek Township. William Peete Fleming and wife to Louis Thomas Ayscue and others, .06 acre in Warrenton Township. Rebecca D. Capps and others to Robert A. Harris and others, two tracts with 56.20 acres and 16.92 acres respectively in Fishing Creek Township. .Helen I. Griffin Butler and husband to Joseph T. Sample and wife, Lot C-39 of Lake Gaston Estates in Sixpound Township. J. B. Thompson and wife to Marie L. Jones, Lot A-48 of Lake Gaston Estates in Sixpound Township. Katherine H Bullock to Katherine H. Bullock and husband, 20 acres in Hawtree Township. Charles E. McCaskill, Jr., and wife to Robert G. A. Messier and wife, Lot 13 of Dove Manor in Roanoke Township. Clinton C. Somerville and wife to Walter Hardin, Jr., and others, two tracts containing 10 3-4 acres in both tracts in Nutbush Township. Walter Hardin and others to Clinton C. Somerville, 22 1-2 acres in Nutbush Township. CROSSWORD PUZZLE TODAY'S ANSWER ACROSS 1 Antonym ol credit? 5 Fictional uncle 10 Border on 11 Happening: 13 Trims, as branches 14 Part of N.J nickname 15 First-persoi contraction 16 Stripling 17 Silkworm 18 Prolific 20 Detective Kirby 21 Sensible 22 Salt tree 23 Timekecpei 25 Campsite residue 26 Thick slice 27 Quote 28 Chemical prefix 29 Please 32 Less than a min. 33 Naval off. 34 St. Anthony's cross 35 Disastrous 37 Keep an account 38 Turbine 39 Hence 40 Lamprey catcher 41 Part of NBA (abbr.) DOWN 1 Neighbor of Nev. 2 In heaven 3 Modern time (2 wds.) 4 Altitudes (abbr.) 5 Entertain 's 6 Dodge 7 Mai de i 8 On earth (3 wds.) 9 Unfruitful 12 Takes potshots 16 Join 19 Proceed to windward 22 — spumante 23 Pure 24 Swiss lake 25 River islets 27 Zodiacal sign 29 Fishnet 30 Serpents' weapons 31 "Sergeant Preston of the —" 36 Late Mr. Hodges 37 "Luck Lady" (2 wds.) The first military drill manual in the U.S. was published in 1779 —three years after the Revolutionary War began. Pamphlets promoting the medic alert campaign, a concept urging persona with unseen medical problems to wear identifying tags, are being distributed in various Warren County offices by the Warrenton Lions dab. Project committee chairman Eddie Clayton, left, provides RN Vivian Piynttr at Warren General Hospital with a handful of the brochures. Other pamphlets will he deposited at offices of local doctors, drug stores, industrial sites, health departments and elsewhere in Warrentoa, Norlina, Littleton and Soul City. (Staff Phsto) Two years ago, Calvin Talley was put in a class for mentally retarded children because no one knew he couldn't hear. Now, two years after the discovery of his deafness, Calvin is a sixth grader at North Warren School with the doors of learning, friendship and future growth opened to him. (Staff Photo)
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Nov. 24, 1977, edition 1
7
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